i know we have discussed the idiom knock up (very different meanings in US and UK english).. but how about knock off..

is it a copy?
quitting time?
a blow?
failing asleep?
a gangland (mafia) type murder?
(all of the above, none of the above or all and them some more?)

and knock about?
a hike?

any other knock idioms that come to mind?

If I think, "a knock-off", I think cheap imitation. If a person was knocked off, he was murdered. However, if the person knocked off, he ceased what he was doing!

How about 'knock the stuffing out of' someone? And don't forget 'knock on wood'. [rapping own head]

knock it off!

Knock your block off?
Don't knock it until you've tried it.
Knocking around town.

Then there is the romantic term "knocked-up".
As in: I knocked up Sally but I thought it was Sue.

Meaning... I knocked on Sue's door instead of Sally's by mistake.

Then there is the romantic term "knocked-up".

Helen, welcome to the knocked liver club.

If somebody told me they'd knocked up Sally, I would assume she was pregnant ...

I can only use "knock it off" as imperative: "stop it!". It doesn't seem right to say "she knocked it off" for "she stopped" (that only means she made it quickly, e.g. a pot), or "knock off complaining". But knock off also means stop work: we knocked off at four o'clock.

Knock-about-comedian.
Slapstick artist

"Knock one back" - have a quick drink, usually alcoholic.
"Knockabout" a person who cannot settle down to a single occupation.
"Knockdown" as in a knockdown dragout fight.
And the old saying : "Every knock is a boost."

Knockdown" as in a knockdown dragout fight.


or KD (knock down) furniture, similar to the kind sold in Ikea.. (thanks,WOW, i forgot that one!)